One Time Deal
by King Dave of Blingees
Summary: A chance encounter. A deal is made. One night, two old souls, a lot of beer. Two-shot


**One Time Deal**

Ryou stumbled.

Somehow, the boy had managed to get himself caught up in the busy pedestrian traffic that filled the city of Berlin. His father was in the city to help with an exhibit of items from his most recent dig and insisted his son fly up so that they could spend time together. At the very prospect, his yami had snorted, insisting something along the lines of the man not being able to father himself out of a paper bag. Ryou, ever the good child, had complied and, sure enough, his father ended up being far too busy for them to do anything together. At least it wasn't a total loss; he got to see such a beautiful and historical city, after all. As he finally broke out from the suffocating crowd, he brushed away a thought sent over about how the spirit died millennium before the city was even created.

Now away from the large crowds, Ryou looked around to discover he had no idea where he was. By no means was he in a shady part of the city, but it wasn't a bustling spot either. He saw the man out of the corner of his eye. Carrying a can of paint in each, several brushes balanced on top of them, was a man with short hair as white as his own but the red eyes and sight that marked genuine albinism. That's when it hit the boy, he was in the East side of the city, more specifically the part where artists enjoyed expressing themselves. The light watched the man disappear into a building, curious about what the inside was like.

_If you're so curious, why don't you just follow him in, hikari?_ The dark urged the boy to go in, not willing to admit the he, himself, was also curious. Giving a gentle sigh, Ryou decided it wasn't worth arguing, especially since it would ease his own curiosity. With a swiftness his body had become accustomed to, the boy followed after the man he had seen.

The building felt distinctly empty. Sound echoed easily; he could hear exactly where the man with the paint had went. The light slipped up the stairs. It was a bit surprising to see the building was nearly empty besides the albino man, whome he soon came upon, and himself. The room he found the man is was amazing. There was paint everywhere; even the ceiling was painted with the help of a latter. Facing away from Ryou, the albino man was splattering paint on a wall. Having made nearly no sound on his way up, Ryou was confident that he could peacefully watch from the doorway and just admire.

"I know you're there kid." The light flinched at being discovered by the man, whose voice was only slightly accented, and he could hear his dark reprimanding hbim in his head. "Come on over, ja? If you're curious, I'll show you what I do here."

Ryou blushed lightly in embarrassment before composing himself and stepping out to the wall being painted. After all, his curiosity was genuine. He couldn't help thinking of his own yami when he saw the smirk on the man's face. This caused said dark to make a snappy comment about being better than some mortal. The albino man watched him, interest in those red eyes of his. "My name's Gilbert. Gilbert Beilscmidt. This is where I come to get away. What about you, kid? You're a tourist, ja?"

"Well... Yes, I'm a tourist. My name is Ryou Bakura. I'm, uh, visiting from Japan. I was trying to get out of the crowds and ended up here." He paused for a moment before nervously adding an extra comment. "If I'm intruding, I can leave."

"Don't worry about it, kid." The man, Gilbert, waved off the comment, a look of amusement on his face. "It feels nice to talk to the youth of the day. Pass along some thoughts, you know, Ryou? Here on the east side, there are a lot of buildings that have never really been needed. Now they're used for recreation, mostly art. This room may be full of paint, but there are other with some crazy sculptures and other mediums. I, myself, don't claim to have any talent, but it's fun to throw some paint around anyway."

It was interesting, the way Gilbert talked. He looked to be in his twenties but talked as if he had seen more than twenty-something years- almost like his yami when he decided to be decent. Ryou didn't respond to what the other had said, but Gilbert didn't seem to mind. Instead, the light's attention fell on what hung off the man's neck. Attached to a chain was a piece of metal shaped similar to a plus sign. He hadn't realize his line of sight had been noticed, so he was a bit surprised when Gilbert spoke up again.

"You've got your eyes on my iron cross, eh?" The elder had a sly grin on his face and amusement in his eyes. He didn't seem to mind that he was doing all the talking. "It's really old, back from the nineteenth century. It's sort of a... family heirloom."

It was then that a certain darkness decided to emerge from his soul room, catching the light off guard. Ryou could feel suspicion rolling off his yami as he found himself back in his mind.

Gilbert had noticed the change in the boy's demeanor immediately and only smiled when he felt a knife pressed against his throat. In fact, the predicament only made him laugh more when he heard the kid speak. "There's something off about you. Now, tell me, what are you hiding?"

"I'd say I'm not the only one keeping a secret here. Did you think I wouldn't notice that little change you just went through there? Give me some more credit, will you, kid." With that, the albino man disarmed his would-be attacker in a way that said he'd been in that situation before. "How about we cut a deal? Secret for secret. We could learn something."

Presumably in thought, Bakura began to walk around the room. Gilbert soon joined and before they knew it, they were in an unspoken standoff, both of them circling the room with even paces. The thief let a few more moments pass before speaking up. "I don't see why I should. It would be so much easier, as well as satisfying, to just slit your throat."

"I hate to break it to you, but that wouldn't exactly work on me." With each phrase spoken, the circle the two walked in seemed to shrink and they would drift closer. "I could tell you why, but you'd have to accept my deal first, now, wouldn't you?"

Two sets of calm eyes. Two confident smirks. Two old souls disguised by bodies that showed them as being so much younger. The circle continued to shrink until the two were practically on top of each other. A grin found its way onto Bakura's face. "Alright, I agree to your little deal."

At that moment, a glint appeared in both sets of eyes and two hands shook. An uneasy truce was born.


End file.
